Feb 13, 2016
Thumbs up to 'playing guilty'
TSN's Dave Hodge gives a thumbs up to “playing guilty”. For some reason, it seldom fails that a team suffering from monumental embarrassment responds positively.
By Dave Hodge
“Thumbs up” to “playing guilty”. I can’t recommend the reason(s) for doing so, but it seldom fails that a team suffering from monumental embarrassment responds positively. Let’s face it, the Boston Bruins couldn’t have played worse than they did on Tuesday when they were blasted 9-2 by the LA Kings, at home, no less.
And on the night Milan Lucic returned, and scored, and received one of those scoreboard tributes that hold up the game and make everyone wonder: “Why did they trade this guy, anyway”?
Two nights later, the Bruins went to Winnipeg and beat the Jets 6-2. Patrice Bergeron scored two goals, and for those who think it’s significant, he fought, which he does infrequently.
His quote was the first one out of the dressing room: “I thought tonight was a great response”.
The Calgary Flames, and especially three players who were benched for arriving to practice late, needed one of those “great responses”, too.
Without Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Lance Bouma, the Flames managed to beat Toronto 4-3 on Tuesday. We’ll call that a “necessary response”.
The three latecomers were back in action Thursday night in San Jose, and a 4-1 first-period lead over the Sharks made coach Bob Hartley smile. After the Sharks rebounded with four straight goals for a 5-4 lead early in the third period, Hartley was probably looking to bench players again. But the game wound up in Calgary’s win column, via a 6-5 shootout, and the bottom line for the two leading scorers returning from punishment was a goal for Monahan and two assists by Gaudreau.
Right back at it last night in Arizona, the Flames were doused 4-1 by the Coyotes, who had lost five straight games. In the tight Western Conference playoff race, that brings desperation, if not guilt, which should be Hartley’s next message to the Flames, at the next practice, to which no one will arrive late.
On NBA All-Star weekend in Toronto, “thumbs up” to the absence of John Scott.
Wait, that doesn’t quite say it the right way.
“Thumbs up” to the MVP of the NHL All-Star game for choosing to play hockey instead of partying with the basketball glitterati.
In a well-timed column by TSN/ESPN colleague Pierre LeBrun, it was revealed that Scott had offers to trot around Toronto as the celebrity he became in Nashville. No one would have blamed him if he had chosen to do that, but since he had been away from his AHL team in St. John’s to tend to family matters following the birth of twin girls, Scott thought it was only right to be a hockey player again instead of getting his picture taken 100 times an hour.
His normal life calls for six or seven minutes of ice time, and maybe a fight, and that’s what he likes to do best, especially when he hasn’t done it for a while. He’s also smart enough to know that the way he handled the NHL all-star voting fiasco made him countless fans he never had or expected to have. The decision to skip the fun in Toronto is another example of Scott’s ability to do the right thing.
There will still be lots of time to do the other things that await him.